Entries in Antoinette Stephen
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Stockbtye/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- The man suspected of killing his wife after a family Ramadan celebration in New Jersey was motivated by his friendship with a gay, elderly real estate investor who cut him into a $2 million deal right before his wife's death, according to the investor's stepmother.

Kashif Parvaiz, 26, who allegedly killed his wife, Nazish Noorani, 27, last week, was about to become a wealthy man, Marguerite Ragusa of New York City said. Ragusa, 81, claims that Parvaiz had "cuddled" with her stepson, Martin Ragusa, 74, the wealthy investor, for years, and convinced him to include Parvaiz in his investments.

Property records show that Ragusa gave Parvaiz a 30-percent stake in a Queens, N.Y., apartment building two years ago -- a building, Marguerite Ragusa said, that had been sold for $9 million the day before the shooting. The sale would make Parvaiz a millionaire upon the September closing date.

Records show that Martin Ragusa had sold his interest in the apartment building to Parvaiz for $10, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

"The papers were signed Monday, and Tuesday she was dead," said Marguerite Ragusa, who also owned a share in the building. "This wasn't about love, it was about money. He wanted all the money to himself."

Martin Ragusa could not be reached and prosecutors would not comment.

Martin Ragusa defended his friend last week, saying he couldn't have killed his wife, according to the Star-Ledger. "They were happily married," Ragusa said of the couple. "Everybody fights."

Parvaiz is accused of conspiring with a Boston woman to kill Noorani as the couple walked from a family Ramadan meal at Noorani's sister's house to her father's house a few blocks away Tuesday. Martin Ragusa was a guest at that meal, his stepmother said.

Antoinette Stephen, 26, of Boston, is accused of shooting Parvaiz and Noorani as part of the alleged plot, injuring Parvaiz but killing Noorani.

Marguerite Ragusa said the alleged killing was a way for Parvaiz to ensure his wife wouldn't get any of the $2 million coming his way when the deal closed in September.

Parvaiz had befriended Martin Ragusa years ago when he did housework for the septogenerian and convinced the elderly man to pay tuiton money for him to attend Columbia and Harvard, even though Parvaiz never enrolled at either, according to the New York Post.

Margeruite Ragusa told ABC News that her stepson was in love with Parvaiz and wanted to be part of a family, and would have eventually handed over all his money to Parvaiz out of fear or love.

"Marty loved him. He said Parvaiz slept with him, cuddled with him, and Marty turned over everything to him," Margeurite Ragusa said. "I think he would have murdered Marty to get what he wanted."

The elderly man's stepmother said she had gone to court to block Martin's sale of the building to Parvaiz and to have his nephew take control of his finances because she was concerned about Parvaiz's motivations.

"The judge practically laughed us out of court," she said.

Parvaiz, who ran a construction business, Riyaan Developers, which is listed as operating in his East Boston home and in Brooklyn, where his family lives, had told relatives that he was a graduate student at Harvard University. But a Harvard spokesman said the university has not found a record of his enrollment.

Police did not characterize the relationship between Parvaiz and Stephen, but said there was a relationship.

Parvaiz and Stephen are both charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder, but no court date has been set.